Page 18 of A Novel Seduction

Evie blushed a little at this statement, knowing she could identify him by that alone, as well as other body parts she’d become intimately familiar with—but now was not the time to tell her boss that fact.

“He swears to me it wasn’t a student,” her boss continued. “And I believe him. He’s nothing like Craig, for one. For two, as good-looking as he is, you know if it was a student someone would be claiming credit by now, and no one is. But he won’t tell me who was…um…‘with’ him in that photo. And after everything that happened earlier this year, we have to be cautious. I asked him to take the day off today while I figure out the best way to handle it.”

A wave of relief passed over Evie at hearing that Drake wasn’t fired. At least not yet. Her stomach did a flip-flop thinking about what she needed to do next, and for a moment she thought she was going to puke. She loved her job, and she didn’t want to work somewhere else. She also didn’t want to cause Drake to lose his job either. But she needed to do what was right, and she needed to make sure that a horrible rumor of Drake sleeping with a student was squashed. Even if it meant she was out of a job. If it was Drake or teaching, choosing him was the easy option.

“It was me,” she said. She could hear the warble in her voice, and all she could do was hope that Principal Goode ignored it.

“Pardon?”

“The person ‘with’ Drake in the photo, as you put it. That’s me.”

“Evie, you don’t have to cover for him.”

“I’m not. We’ve been seeing each other for a while and have just been keeping it a secret. Last night was the first time anything has happened on school property, I promise!”

“If you two are together, why didn’t you just tell me?” her boss asked, looking concerned.

“Because of the no fraternization policy! I know it’s wrong for us to be dating, but it just kind of happened after we showed back up in each other’s lives and—”

“No fraternization policy?” he cut her off. “There isn’t a no fraternization policy. That was something Vice Principal Marx made up to keep Craig from hitting on everyone. I really should have fired him sooner. You and Drake are free to see each other romantically, as long as you disclose it to me so I am aware in case something happens. Something like this.”

“Oh.” Evie didn’t know what to say. How had she not realized that the rule was made-up? She felt so stupid. “So we’re not fired?”

“Goodness, no! You two are some of my most popular teachers! I dare say that it will cause quite the stir when it gets out you two are an item. Please be prepared for some nasty looks from some of the girls in the halls.”

Evie laughed at his last statement. He was probably right that there would be some general disappointment that the new “hottie” gym teacher was now off the market, but she was plenty prepared for whatever came her way.

That was, as long as Drake was by her side.

Please let him still be by my side…

9

Not knowing where else to go when Principal Goode asked him to leave work for the day, Drake found his way to the batting cages. They had always been his favorite way of working off stress and helping him think, and now he needed that more than ever. Even if he did have to keep the pitching machine on a slower setting than he would have liked and wear a face mask while in the cage, taking a swing at baseballs made him feel like he was at least in control of something.

Of course the one thing he really wanted to take a swing at was himself. How could he have been so stupid? He’d let himself think with his dick, and now look where he was. Halfway to being fired, with a girlfriend who was mortified and probably just waiting to break up with him.

He’d been short in his initial response to her text earlier. He hadn’t known exactly how to respond, and he’d tapped out the first thing he thought of. He would have to apologize later. She deserved better. He’d just gotten to the batting cages and he needed to work out his feelings, so he tapped out a message letting her know where he was. He’d been so flustered from his own frustration that he’d hit send too soon, so he had to finish in a second text, but he figured she’d understand he was emotional at the moment.

What was he going to do if he got fired? He’d never be able to find another coaching gig. Sure, he could probably find a job as a personal trainer and be just fine financially. That was not how he wanted to spend his days. But if it meant being able to support Evie, he’d deal.

Evie.

No matter what he did, his mind kept wandering back to her. He really needed to apologize for being so gruff in his text. He knew she was in this with him. She had been so unbelievably mortified last night that she’d been inconsolable. He didn’t have the words to make it better, and that tore him up inside. She’d finally passed out from exhaustion from all her crying. He would do anything to take away that pain from her.

The call from Principal Goode telling Drake that Evie had admitted to being the other party in the photo had come shortly after he’d finished in the cages. At first, he didn’t believe his boss that quiet, shy Evie had marched into the administration office and fessed up to such behavior, especially after how short he’d been with her, but his boss had assured him that was the case. Principal Goode also asked him to return to school that afternoon so they could deal with the three boys who set this whole thing in motion. Since they knew who the perpetrators were, it was easy to cut it off at the knees.

Drake opened the text app on his phone to send Evie a message letting her know he was on his way back. He needed to thank her for what she’d done and wanted to reassure her just how much he cared for her. It was probably time that he came clean with her about how deep those feelings ran.

Glancing at his screen, he blinked a couple of times in disbelief. When he’d replied in such a hurry earlier, he’d known he had hit send too early, cutting the message in half, but what he didn’t realize was that the other half didn’t send. The only part of the message Evie had received was “Maybe this was a mistake” with the remainder “but I just got to the batting cages. Will call you after.” still sitting in draft mode.

Making matters worse was her reply to his half message.

Evie: Are you breaking up with me?

Fuuuuck…

How could she think that? How could she believe that he wasn’t doing everything to protect her in all this?